Dental appliance



June 4, 1935. J, 5 MEADOWS 2,003,692

DENTAL APPLIANCE Filed April 16, 1934 "1 IVIIIIIIIIIA'IIIIIIII! f INVENTOR. JAMEs E. Mmoomr ATTORNEYS.

Patented June 4, 1935 v V UNITED STATES "PATENT )O'FF ICE DENTAL APPLIANCE James E. Meadows, San l rancisco, Calif. Application April '16, 1934, Serial No; 720,700 2 Claims. (01. 32-19) This invention relates to a dental device empivot 3 to open and close compass-lika v Extenployed for recording the bite of the teeth and sionarms I'QZ are respectively connected atone gums of patients. This device is similar to the or" their ends to an end of arms I, 2, byv pivots one shown in my United States Patent No. 1,- 4, 5. Pivots 3, 4, and 5, are all arranged to permit 5 718,868, dated June 25, 1929, the arms to move in the same plane. e

V Theobjectof my invention is to provide a more From point I outwardly to their free ends the flexible device than heretofore employed whereby extension arms I, 2, are Cylindrical as at 8 and e r per b te of a patientss jaws may be of reduced cross-sectional diameter for longirecorded with absolute accuracy in a plastic subtudinalsliding into a cylindrical recess extending stance, such as Wax, which record is adapted to n ud y in o elongated y ippe fi h 10 be transferredto the dental articulator. membe s 9 w i h a of substantially the eenie I In the drawing Fig. 1 is a side view of the device outside Cress-sectional shape as the ms ln a closed position. Members 9 are each longitudinally slotted along V Fig. 2 is a view similar to that of Fig. 1 with the One Side at r pass ng a screw l I 'transve'rselS arms ofthe deviceslightly opened. t r e W p v n pa 8 d rom 15 Fig. 3-is aside view of the device with the arms turning iv ly. Sc ew e d to open and angularly positioned relatively difierthe cylindrical end 8 of the arms I, 2', and at its ently from the View of Fig. 2. outer end isprovided with a head [2 for turning, Fig. 4 is an enlarged view of the outerend of the head being adapted t h th de mar n 2 one of the arms of the device, showing the wax f e 81017 W When tightenedufel' s el j e tray more in detail, and with a portion of the em 9 against longitudinal ov nt relative devise in t v V g to part 8. When loosened, however, theme Fig. 5 a plan view of Fig. 4. v 7 her 9 is free for sliding longitudinallyof part .8 Heretofore considerable dimculty has been enin both direefiohs, e l t t s inward iheve:

countered in procuring a record of the correct Them? 5 limited by h shoulder i ed Re ne 25 normal bite of the patients jaws. Some The Outer ends of members 9 ar efi t h ere patients persist in abnormally protruding or 15 r each other a d ea o aid withdrawing the lower jaw when biting intothe members f h l' e l its extreme Outer h i plastic material for making the record that is @fiattened'thhllleilrmehlber having anopep;

used to fashion the dentures, and as a result the s th u h f r r iv n a a e e sion 30 denturesmade from such records are faulty and 0f e't Which y is Shaped nd a ap ed must bev made over, sometimes many times, be- Support the impression Wa On e Q jtS des fore the correct record is made.,' f receiving -h impression of the gums, a d

I overcome this difliculty by use of an appliteeth f a P t p t ance that permits the patient to bite into the wax Thesetrays are a a d t 9 '35 in the ordinary manner, but which also supports Come together on t Sides pp their Wax the record thus made against the gums of the Supporting d s Wh t e arms of the device patient when the jaws of the patient are widely are brought togetheropened without the record shifting relative to Since there Often is Variation in the Pivotal 49 the gums or teeth, as the case may he. points of the jaw of the patient, whereby the 40 Since the relative position of the upper and lower l will move laterally ghtly at me lower jaws of the patient, when the patients point or other between the Open an s d pomouth is widely opened, is correct, should there Sitioh 1 Opening the l I Secure e Plate be an error in their relative position when the |5h1 the flattened tubular member y 8 Screw 47, bite is made, it will be rectified by use of my that threadedly extends Ollgh a boss device upon the movement of the jaws to th formed on a broad side of said flattened tubular open position. The two impressions are locked member, and Which SereW is p d at its end relatively against movement radially of the axis engaging the plate thereby permitting ach extending through the jaw pivots when the jaws f the trays to pivot laterally around the pb are in open position; hence, when the jaws are ed end of the screw. I do not desire to re- 60 closed, the impressions or wax records may be ct myself to a pointed Screw, t y sealed together and received from the patients pivotal connection that is adapted to release mouth, such record being absolutely correct. the plate l5 for withdrawal from the tubular In detail, my device comprises arms I, 2, pivmember when desired is sufficient, although otally connected together at adjacent ends by a my showing is preferable since it is sim-' ple, effective, and permits a wide variety of adjustment of the pivotal point. It is, of course, obvious, as shown in the drawing, that the flattened opening in tubular member I4 is sufliciently wide relative to the width of the plate 15 to permit the plate and consequently the tray, to be pivoted.

In some instances the articulator that mounts the trays is not adapted to take a very long plate, such as l5, and in such case I provide the tray with an extension 20, slotted along one edge as at 2| in the plane of the tray, and which slot receives an edge of plate l5, being connected against withdrawal therefrom by a spring-urged latch 22 on plate I adapted to engage on a catch 23 on extension 20.

Thus by releasing the engagement between the latch and catch, the tray may easily be separated from the plate.

In order to provide for arms I, 2, l, 2, opening and closing together and assuming corresponding angular positions relatively, I provide links 25, 26, of equal length pivotally connected at one of their ends respectively at 21, 28 to arms I, 2, at points equi-distant from pivot 3, and at their opposite ends, links 25, 26 are pivotally connected together at 29.

'1 Arms I, 2, are also provided respectively with links 30, 3| connected at one of their ends to saidlinks respectively at 32, 33, said pivots being equi-distant respectively from pivots4, 5. Links 30, 3| are slightly longer than links 25, 26 and at their ends opposite pivots 32, 33 are pivoted together by pivot 34.

Pivots 3, 29, and 34 extend respectively transversely through straight slots 35, 36, 31, in a hat elongated guide bar 38, which slots are in longitudinal alignment along the bar 38. Said pivots are slidable longitudinally in the slots, thus permitting greater flexibility than was possible in the device of my previous patent, and allowing the trays to assume correspondingly angular positions of any degree relatively and at-any degree of separation of the trays IS on opposite sides of a medial line 40 extending longitudinally of bar 38.

' In operation, the'patient bites into the wax ll, indicated in dotted line in Fig. 1. One of screws I1 is loosened and the patients jaws are opened to their extreme open position, which might be as is indicated in Figs. 2 or 3, according to the patient. Any error in the bite is rectified by reason of the fact that the loosened tray is free to slide longitudinally of member 8. Also, by reason of the fact that all of pivots 3, 29, and 34, are free to slide in their respective slots, the wax impression will remain tightly against the gums of the patient in exactly the same relation as when the bite was recorded. When the jaws of the patient are opened as widely as possible, the loosened screw is tightened, and the patient then closes his or her jaws. Since the arms I, 2, must come together exactly as they were at the time of making the bite, and since the correct bite was registered when the jaws of the patient were opened, there can be no error in the position of the two impressions when the trays are again brought together. The wax impressions are then sealed along adjacent edges and the impressions removed from the patients mouth as a unit, which unit, with the trays, separated from the arms and the subsequent operations for making the denture are continued.

Having described my invention, I claim:

1. A dental appliance comprising a pair of arms pivotally connected at one end, each of said arms being provided with a pivotal joint at a point intermediate its ends the pivotal joints being equi-distant from the pivot connecting the ends of the arms whereby each of said arms comprises an inner section pivotally connected at an end to an end of the inner section of the opposite arm and an outer section pivotally connected to the free end of each inner section respectively, a pair of mouth trays on the free outer ends of the outer sections of the arms, means whereby the arms are controlled for simultaneous pivotal movement comprising a pair of links pivotally connected at one end and each link pivotally connected at its opposite end to one of the'outer sections of the arms respectively, and a member provided with elongated slots in longitudinal alignment, said slots arranged and adapted to slidably re ceive the pivot connecting the ends of the inner sections of the arms and also the pivot connecting the ends of the links for slidable movement of both pivots longitudinally of the slots.

2. In a device as defined in claim 1, a second pair of links pivotally connected at one end and each of said second pair-of links pivotally connected at its opposite end to one of the inner sections of the arms respectively, the pivot connecting the ends of said second pair of links being disposed within one of the slots in said slotted member for slidable movement longitudinally of said slot.

JAMES E. MEADOWS. 

